Culture Club

I once heard that we do not have a culture, we just have a series of commercials. I think there may be something to that. Most of the things that define our culture have been packaged and sold to us.

When I think about our church culture I wonder if it is all that different. Is Christian culture a series of commercials with Jesus as the spokesman? If our culture was based on relationships with God and with each other instead of keeping a Christian image I think there would be very little similarities because the culture of the church and the culture of our world. 

Running on empty.

The last few days have gone by in a kind of fog of malaise for me. I can't say why exactly. There are a lot of factors that could contribute; some situations in life not living up to my hopes, the weather was dreary, I ate too much junk, or any number of other reasons.

But no matter what has gotten me in this funk one thing I know for sure "joy comes in the morning". So I have faith that God will renew my spirit. If you feel run down or worn out rejoice because "joy comes in the morning."

Mountain Top

"Let the wilderness and its cities lift up their voices... Let them shout for joy from the tops of the mountains"

Isaiah 42:11

Takeoff

I recently got my airline tickets for NYC. I love to fly. It still amazes me that in a matter of hours I could be halfway across the country. But maybe even more amazing is that everyday most of us travel miles and miles to and from work with little thought.

It would be shocking to our predecessors to see how much we travel they would be shocked. But more shocking would be it we really understood the effort it took to get beyond your community.

When we think of those who followed Jesus in the Bible I think we might forget about the difficulty involved. When Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount people didn't hop in their cars, turn on the AC, and take the Mount exit off the expressway.

So when we do not follow Christ because it is too difficult, or too inconvenient. Think about those people who hiked through the wilderness and sat covered in sweat and sand just to hear Him speak.

No substitute for teachers

My mom recently retired from nearly 40 years as an educator. She taught in both public and private schools and was both a teacher and a principal. My brother and sister in-law are both teachers as well. I guess you could say it's kind of that family business.

So it really bothers me the lack of respect teachers often receive today. They're viewed as little more than glorified babysitters and are to blame for their student's problems. In some cultures the title Teacher carries as much prestige as do the monikers Doctor or Lawyer. I often wonder if we attached such distinction to our teachers what effect that would have on the education system.

In our churches though this is even more true. Our Sunday school or small-group teachers are often only those who are willing, not necessarily by those who are qualified. How often are those teaching God's Word only regurgitating what they read in the teacher's manual the night before?

There are certainly many excellent teachers in our churches, I have have some myself. But how much better would our church education systems be if  we placed the highest of honors on those who were called to teach God's Word? They would not be simply the "worker bees" of the church who are willing to do the "dirty work" of the church. Rather they would be esteemed leaders sharing vital knowledge of our Lord to their fellow believers.

Not so happy ending

We're told a lot about hope in church. We're told our hope is in Jesus. We're told to hope in the Lord. In fact we like hope so much that we often name our churches, and even our children, after it.

There is a chance however that we've misunderstood what hope really is. Hope is not a guarantee that everything will turn out just fine. In fact Jesus tells us to be ready for hard times. And certainly for the disciples and many early Christians things came to a painfully unhappy ending. If these people were martyred for their beliefs why do we think we'll end up with a nice house and a perfect family just because we're "good  Christians".

But hope is not a fairy tale. Hope does not promise a happy ending to life, it promises a happy ending to eternity.

Spiritual Orienteering

I went hiking yesterday. Other than the trail being a bit muddy it was a gorgeous day to do so. At one point I followed a small deer path up from the main trail. It lead up towards the top of a hill and I was hoping for a great view. It was long though before the path started to fade. I would lose it for a few feet before I found it again. Then eventually the path was completely gone.

I was near the top of the hill now so I figured I could just cut straight up the side without any problems. So I took note of a fallen tree where I was leaving the path and headed uphill. After a while though I realized that the trees were too thick and there wouldn't be much of a view at the top. So I decided to head back down. Except when I turned around I couldn't find the fallen tree anywhere. I started back towards where I thought it was but I still couldn't find it and there was nothing resembling the trail anywhere to be found.

After another couple minutes trudging through the brambles it was official, I was lost. Thankfully there was a couple of guide points that could help me find my way. I could hear the creek and I knew that that was to the west, and that the road was just a bit further west of the creek. So I headed west. Sure enough it wasn't long before I found the creek, although a much different part of the creek than I was expecting to find. I found a shallow point to cross the creek and sure enough the road wasn't far beyond.

Sometimes in our spiritual lives we can lose our way as well. At times it feels like the path God has for us is overgrown and impossible to find. But what do we do then? Do we sit down and accept our fate? Or do we find those guide points that will always help us find our way? While we may not take every step exactly where He had planned at least we'll be moving in the right direction.

What are your guide points? They could be anything that keeps you heading towards God; Church, Scripture, family, prayer... Whatever they may be the more you have the truer your direction will be.

Bible 101

I am horrible at Bible study. There, I said it, I admit it. I do not read God's Word daily, I do not study or delve into it as I know I should.

I have the same problem with textbooks. A professor can assign all the reading they want, I ain't gonna do it. I'll crack the book when it's time for a test or to do some homework. But then I'll only thumb through trying to find the information that seems pertinent to the questions I have at the time.

This is much the same way I treat the Bible. For the most part it just sits there, untouched. But if I need to find an answer I'll scan the pages looking for key words. And much like with my classes I miss something. I do not read the rest of the text and so I miss the greater context, I don't see the big picture.

The Bible isn't a textbook though. It was never meant to be flipped through trying to find answers. The Bible is a love note. It's 66 books about God's love for us. That's how I should read it. I should devour it, I should crave to read it every chance I get. Not because I can find some answer that I'm looking for, but rather for the connection with the one who wrote it. 

Lightning

For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be. - Matthew 24:27

Withering

The plant in my window is almost dead. This isn't surprising, I can never keep a plant alive so this one never really stood a chance. I put it in the window to get sunlight and watered it regularly. But somehow it still dies.

Sometimes it feels like that in our own spiritual lives. We go to church and read our Bibles, we fellowship with other believers and serve the needy. But somehow we still feel like we are withering up and dying.

Unfortunately, like the plants, I don't know why this happens. But I do know that this withering will not last forever and if we are steadfast God will reward our faithfulness and renew us.

Strength Training

"The final straw", "when it rains it pours".... I think there's reason that we have so many expressions that more or less say the same thing. We've all experienced this in our lives. We are at a point when we seem to be dealing with more than we can handle, then there's something else.

Work, school, family, finances all overwhelming us and then the car breaks down. It's more than we can handle and it keeps just piling on. We're ready to collapse under the weight of it all.

Strangely this reminds me of what we do to try and get stronger. If we go to the gym we add more and more weight  always trying to lift a little more. We put on the weight we can handle, then we add a little more. This is not an attempt to beat us down, it is to build us up.

When our burdens are more than we can bear it is God pushing our faith to be stronger and to carry more.

All the Ghosts I Know

It seems from time to time some mistake of my past rises up out of the ashes of history to haunt me once again. My life has had it's share of failings and most of my closets have a skeleton or two in them.

Whether it is a relationship I treated carelessly, education that I didn't take seriously, finances I've mishandled, jobs I've wasted, so many bridges I've burned. These missteps can still haunt me to this day. Debts that I am still paying.

I am so thankful that God is not this way. Our failures forgotten, our sins erased. Praise God that Jesus paid our debts and all the ghosts I know will fade away. 

A Mission From God

I used to imagine that God had some "BIG" mission for me. That I was destined to move to some exotic foreign land and spend my days digging wells and telling people about Jesus.

While I have been blessed to go on a few short-term mission trips I now find myself still in my hometown. In fact I'm not 5 minutes from where I grew up. So was I wrong? Did God not have a grand mission for me?

No, I just didn't understand what my mission would be. My mission is to serve my family and my community right here. Just because my mission is close to home does not mean it is any "smaller".

We all have a mission from God, no matter how "big" or "small".

The Perfect Prescription

My son is home sick from preschool today. He has a nasty cough that kept me and my wife up most of the night last night. So today he'll stay home with Daddy and get plenty of rest and lots of fluids.

Of course we are all spiritually sick. Sin though is not our disease, it is the symptom. Our ailment is separation from God.

But the treatment for what ails us is not all that different from what my son needs right now. We need to rest in the presence of our heavenly Father and ask him to fill us with the Holy Spirit.

Far too often we 'self-medicate' our separation from Him by filling our lives with everything but Him when what we really need is Him

To the Mountains

Mt. Aconcagua, Mendoza, Argentina

Psalm 121

I will lift up my eyes to the mountains;

From where shall my help come?

My help comes from the Lord,

Who made heaven and earth.

He will not allow your foot to slip;

He who keeps you will not slumber.

Behold, He who keeps Israel

Will neither slumber nor sleep.

The Lord is your keeper;

The Lord is your shade on your right hand.

The sun will not smite you by day,

Nor the moon by night.

The Lord will protect you from all evil;

He will keep your soul.

The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in

From this time forth and forever.

The Face of Evil

I love fantasy and science fiction. Of course there is something romantic and exciting about the adventures often told in these genres. But there is something else that makes these so appealing to me, and I imagine many others; the bad guys.

Bad guys in fantasy are great. They are 100% evil, there is no ambiguity about their actions, they want to destroy the world, enslave all of mankind, or use our bodies as hosts. They wear black and live in dark wastelands surrounded by skulls and monsters. There is no question as to who the bad guy is.

Unfortunately the real world is not like that. The devil doesn't have horns and a pitch fork. He drive an Audi and carries and iPhone. He'll tell you all he wants is to help you, to give you all your wildest dream, to fulfill all your desires.

Don't look for smoke and red bat wings. Don't look for evil dressed up as Sauron. Look for the father of lies  dressed as a friend. You will know him by his fruits.

Pass it on.

As I look at my son and think about my unborn child I wonder what I will leave behind for them. Besides the baldness gene will I have something to give to them?

I'm sure this is a common question that most fathers ask. It is one that our Heavenly Father asked. Of course His answer was Jesus.

I may not have wealth or property to give to my children but my faith can be my legacy.

What will you pass on?

Prepper-Nation

In the last few years we have seen a massive increase in so-called "preppers". This is due in large part to recent economic instability and political turmoil at home and abroad. While for most the reasons for becoming a prepper are largely motivated by political or social beliefs there is quite often an underlying religious nature to their practices.They have an overwhelming sense that we are living in a kind of "end times" and so they must prepare.

If you've seen the National Geographic Channel show "Doomsday Preppers" you'll know that each prepper has their own beliefs as to what will cause the fall of our society and the best way to prepare for it. While each individual is different there are some common things they all try to have. They try and create a secure shelter. This can be anything from a bomb shelter to a fortified ranch to living in a decommissioned missile silo. They also will of course need a source of food and water. All preppers have some amount of stored supplies such as canned or dehydrated foods. But some plan on relying more on growing their own food once the local grocer has been by a band of marauding zombies. And last but not least is protection. When the rule of law has collapsed even the most peace loving hippy prepper will have a rifle or two at his side.

It's very easy to look at these people and laugh, calling them paranoid nut jobs. But we shouldn't forget that even Jesus warns us to prepare for the end times. But He doesn't tell us to stockpile spam. He tells us to pray and watch and to continue doing Gods work. Christian preppers shouldn't worry about filling their pantries and their armories with seeds and shotgun shells. We should worry about the souls of our family, our friends, and our neighbors, that they will find shelter in the Lord and that they are secure in their place in Heaven.

How are you preparing for the end time?

Believer or Brainwashed?

I have many non-Christian friends who assume that I have been brainwashed. Thankfully most of them are kind enough not to say that to me directly, but still that is their belief. The sad part is they are not totally incorrect. 

In the Christian school that I grew up in  we were taught creationism. But anytime that evolution was mentioned we were told it was a lie and there was no evidence to support it. No argument was given against radiocarbon dating or Australopithecus. 

Far too often this is the way Christians treat many issues. We espouse our beliefs while outright rejecting anyone who says anything to the contrary. In our zeal to find sound doctrine and avoid false teachings we substitute belief for brainwashing. 

Ignoring what you disagree with does not make it go away. I know many of my classmates who, upon leaving the Christian school setting and entering public colleges and universities, found the challenges to their faith too great to overcome and walked away from the church. 

If we teach true belief in God that is not something so easily shaken by new ideas, it is something that has taken hold deep in the soul. But if we are only brainwashing then that is easily washed away by new ideas. 

We are afraid to lose people to the lies of this world. But anyone searching for the truth can only find Jesus. 

Misunderstanding Mental Illness

Most of you have heard by now that Rick Warren's son committed suicide over the weekend. Rick Warren is one of the most prominent religious leaders in America today. He is the Pastor of Saddleback Church in California and author of the best-selling book The Purpose Driven Life, which has sold well over 30 million copies. 

We often are baffled when someone we would see as successful, or from a successful family, takes there own life. We think to ourselves, "what problems could they possibly have that would be so bad". This seems all the more astonishing when this tragedy strikes a family of believers.

But this is because for people who haven't experienced depression is it difficult to distinguish between it and sadness. Sadness occurs when you are upset or disappointed by your circumstances. Depression runs much deeper than that. Depression can take hold and manifest even during what would seem to be happy times. It cannot be fixed by "looking on the bright side" or trying to have more fun. It cannot be fixed by "getting a grip" or getting out more. And no, it cannot be fixed by just "trusting in God".

Aside from a few extreme Christian sects all Christians will send their child to a doctor if they have the flu or break a leg. Yet when it is our mind that is sick or broken we think that prayer is all that God requires. We are outraged when a child is denied medical treatment by their parents for religious reason, yet we often do the same when it comes to mental health.

Perhaps the even greater tragedy is the stigma that mental illness holds in the Christian community. While our society at large needs to have a better understanding of mental illness it is in our churches that sanctuary from shame should be found, but often it is not. We do not look at someone with cancer or heart disease and say that their condition is a result of sin. Yet if someone is suffering from depression or anxiety we assume that they are not in a right relationship with God.

Certainly faith plays a role in healing mental illnesses just as it does with all afflictions. But our faith should rest in that God will use the doctors and medicines to aid in healing. Of course God can perform a miracle without them but why ignore the tools he has already given us? I firmly believe that a Christian struggling with any illness should consult with their Pastor or other church leaders. These are people God has anointed to serve as guides and counselors. But that does not take the place of doctors and licensed therapists. Even those professionals who do not know God have still been appointed by God to serve His people, they just don't know it yet.

I was very glad to hear that Matthew Warren had been receiving treatment from doctors and was on medication for his depression. I am sorry for the Warren family's lost but I am thankful for Rick Warren for setting a good example.

Ur

I had the honor of visiting the Ziggurat of Ur while serving in Iraq in 2005. It was an amazing experience and one I hope more people can experience if the region becomes more stable and open to tourism. The picture was taken by me on the north side of the Ziggurat.  

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Story from the Vancouver Sun

British archaeologists said Thursday they have unearthed a sprawling complex near the ancient city of Ur in southern Iraq, home of the biblical Abraham.

The structure, thought to be about 4,000 years old, probably served as an administrative centre for Ur, around the time Abraham would have lived there before leaving for Canaan, according to the Bible.

The compound is near the site of the partially reconstructed Ziggurat, or Sumerian temple, said Stuart Campbell of Manchester University's Archaeology Department, who led the dig.

"This is a breathtaking find," Campbell said, because of its unusually large size — roughly the size of a football pitch, or about 80 metres (260 feet) on each side. The archaeologist said complexes of this size and age were rare.

"It appears that it is some sort of public building. It might be an administrative building, it might have religious connections or controlling goods to the city of Ur," he told The Associated Press in a phone interview from the U.K.

The complex of rooms around a large courtyard was found 20 kilometres (12 miles) from Ur, the last capital of the Sumerian royal dynasties whose civilization flourished 5,000 years ago.

Campbell said one of the artifacts they unearthed was a 9-centimetre (3.5-inch) clay plaque showing a worshipper wearing a long, fringed robe, approaching a sacred site.

Beyond artifacts, the site could reveal the environmental and economic conditions of the region through analysis of plant and animal remains, the archaeological team said in a statement.

The dig began last month when the six-member British team worked with four Iraqi archaeologists to dig in the Tell Khaiber in the southern province of Thi Qar, some 200 miles (320 kilometres) south of Baghdad.

Decades of war and violence have kept international archaeologists away from Iraq, where significant archaeological sites as yet unexplored are located. Still, the dig showed that such collaborative missions could be possible in parts of Iraq that are relatively stable, like its Shiite-dominated south.

Campbell's team was the first British-led archaeological dig in southern Iraq since the 80s. It was also directed by Manchester University's Dr. Jane Moon and independent archaeologist Robert Killick.

"This has been an opportunity to get back to an area very close to our heart for a long time," Campbell said.

Iraq faces a broader problem of protecting its archaeological heritage. Its 12,000 registered archaeological sites are poorly guarded

Temptations

Many of us have said the Lord's Prayer thousands of times in our lives. We learned it in Sunday School and have even turned to it for guidance as adults. But there is an issue with the ninth line of this prayer "Lead us not into temptation".

I know that I feel constantly surrounded by temptations. Temptations of every sort bombard me almost without cease. But if I have prayed that God "lead me not into temptation" then how are all these temptations there?

The short answer, I'm leading myself. God is not tempting me to sin. When I find myself surrounded by temptation then I have wondered from the path that God has set out for me. God's path would not lead me there, but temptation is exactly what I find when I go my own way.

While God's way may not look all that different to someone else the temptation we pass on His path seem somehow further away and less appealing.

Group Succession

In my lifetime I have belonged to a wide variety of groups. From sports teams, to bands, to soccer supporter groups. And with almost all these groups there has come a point at which I question my membership.

I find myself asking: does this group still represent my beliefs and wishes, is it still effective in its mission, does the group condone or at least not condemn behavior that I would not want to be associated with? For every reason we originally joined the group we at some point look back and say does this still hold true. And while the specifics are different for each person there is some kind of internal algorithm we apply to assess our continued inclusion in the group.

Does our formula change though when the group we are considering leaving is a group of believers? When we feel a desire to find a new church home what tests do we use to evaluate our decision. Should we stick with a community of believers longer than we would non-believers even after issues arise or should we expect more out of our fellow Christians.

5 stones

Everyone knows the story of David & Goliath. We've applied lessons of God giving us the strength to conquer our own "giants" to everything from addiction to football. But there may be another lesson that we have been missing.

If you'd like take a moment to read the story again.

Read verse 37 again:
"The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine."

Now re-read verse 40:
"Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine."

In verse 37 David is confident that God will help him to slay the giant, but just 3 verses later he picks up FIVE stones. Why did he need five? God would take care of him, wouldn't he only need one?

The answer may actually appear in verses 34-36.
"But David said to Saul, 'Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God.'"

This wasn't David's first fight. He knew what could go wrong. He knew that the first stone might miss or that he may drop it before he ever got it into the sling. So he grabbed more than he would need. This wasn't a lack of faith, it was preparation. David knew that God would take care of him, but he still needed to do his part.

How often do we use faith as an excuse for a lack of preparation  I don't have to look for a job, God will provide. I don't have to study for the test, God will provide. I don't have to serve others, God will provide.

Make sure you're picking up all the stones you might need as you head out to face your giants.

Split Second Salvation

We all know that the God of the Old Testament was God at His most "vengeance is mine" before the long-haired hippy God of the New Testament takes over. But there are some stories from the Old Testament that seem just too harsh, too unfair. Could this really be the loving God who would send His Son to die for our sins?

There is one story in particular that has always troubled me. In 2 Samuel 6 we hear the story of the Ark being brought to Jerusalem. As they are carrying it it begins to slip Uzzah reaches up to steady it and keep it from falling. As his hand touched the Ark God strikes him dead.

Why would God do that? This man wasn't doing anything all that bad, he was just trying to protect the Ark from damage. Did that really deserve death? David was to blame for putting the Ark on a cart to begin with, so why should Uzzah bare such a hefty penalty?

Certainly Uzzah's story is a lesson to all of us. That lessen is not that we serve an uncaring or unforgiving God, but it is that God wants us to be close to Him. Uzzah only had a split-second to react to what he saw as a potential disaster. Split second decisions can reveal so much about our character. When a disaster strikes you how do you react? Do you curse out, do you run and hide, or do you take a step closer to God?

Uzzah's fate was decided in a knee-jerk reaction. Often so is our fate. God wants us to be so close to Him, so in tune with desires that even our knee-jerk reactions follow his wishes.

Have we found what we are looking for?

A few years ago a popular trend emerged among evangelical churches. Almost overnight so-called "seeker friendly" churches seemed to be popping up everywhere. The general idea behind these churches seemed sound enough. Many non-Christians are put off by the trappings and traditions of the church and truth be told a church service can be a scary thing to outsiders.

These churches played modern worship music instead of traditional hymns. The services often included high production values that most concert venues would be jealous of. The Pastor would shun vestments and suit for jeans and t-shirts and people were encouraged to "come as they are". And when they got there they were offered a cup of coffee and told about all the amazing activities the church was participating in.

It wasn't long though before controversy began to arise surrounding these churches. Some of it was nothing more than critiques of style and methodology but there was a very significant concern with the message they were preaching. Many accused these churches of watering down the Gospel, only talking about the easy parts and forgetting the hard truths, in order to not push anyone away.

These accusations slowed the growth of the seeker friendly churches which seemed destined to take over the church landscape. Certainly many churches still are by all practical measures still "seeker friendly" but most would reject that term.

Shouldn't all of our churches be seeker friendly though? Of course we should not water-down God's Word but are we not all still seeking Him? We may know Him, we may have even "found" Jesus but does that mean we should stop looking for Him? Aren't all Christians called to seek to know Him better, to seek to walk closer with Him, to seek where it is He is leading us?

If so don't we wish all our churches to be "seeker friendly"?